Without regulation, short-let sites like AirBnB are becoming a burden councils can’t bear

The ‘sharing economy’ is a description which gives good vibe. Who can oppose the idea of new opportunities for people to use their own assets to generate some extra cash, all facilitated by digital technology? And yet, all is not what it seems. The rapid growth of the short-let or ‘nightly booked’ accommodation sector – including, but by no means limited to, Airbnb – has a positive side, of course, and I am certainly not amongst those wanting to bring it to an end.

However, alongside the owners renting out a spare room, or letting their flat for a few weeks while they are on holiday, there is another reality – that of an increasingly professionalised arm of the hospitality industry operating without effective regulation and leaving the problems for others to deal with.